Meaningful use

From population health management to meaningful use, cybersecurity to EHR usability, healthcare will face an array of challenges and opportunities over the next 12 months. Beth Israel Deaconess CIO John Halamka, MD, offers his predictions for 2016.

If you're anything like most hospital leaders, accountable care and meaningful use initiatives are renting a lot of space in your head these days. But like many of your peers, chances are you face major challenges to meet regulatory requirements and to operate efficiently under evolving care models.

There is mounting evidence that clinical decision support tools can significantly improve patient outcomes. Not only is this good news for the patient, it is also good news for our entire healthcare delivery system.

Of the roughly 40,000 health apps available for smartphone, there are about 800 apps oriented around mental health. So, if the key to effective therapy, as most professionals argue, is human interaction, can apps provide any benefit at all?

Recognizing that "there are many who will find my conclusions politically unpopular," Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center CIO John Halamka, MD, offers his assessment of the meaningful use program, and a counterproposal he says will better serve stakeholders.

Context and perspective matter. And it's often both context and perspective that are lacking from the daily snapshots we get of health information technology, meaningful use, interoperability and the progress we are either making or not making, depending on your perspective.